Such straps are often constructed from parts having different material properties to allow for the varying tensile loads imposed on the strap by the animal whilst providing a reliable, comfortable support for fastening the saddle or load to the animal.
The various parts of the strap may exhibit different relative durability characteristics and, in any event, it may be that a particular part only of the strap becomes damaged and is required to be replaced or repaired.
Girth straps require regular washing and, depending upon the different materials used in the strap, some of these materials may have a tendency to deteriorate more rapidly than the others, owing primarily to the washing process, until eventually they require replacement or repair.
Repairs and replacement of parts of the girth straps may be unnecessarily costly as well as being inconvenient, coupled with the risk that even when the repair or replacement has been carried out the overall strength of the strap may nevertheless have been reduced. Such repairs may involve breaking stitching, re-stitching and bonding and/or heat sealing which may also take a not inconsiderable amount of time and skill to effect.
Girth straps have been made traditionally from leather although leather is a relatively costly material which must be carefully selected and prepared to provide the requisite quality and also needs careful and proper maintenance in use. In consequence, other materials have also been used and, in particular, the use of carefully selected materials based on various synthetic plastics has found some favour. Also, it is known to incorporate padding or cushioning materials in the construction of such straps in order to improve comfort and reduce the risk of chafing and injury to the body of the horse.
In producing such straps, however, it is also frequently necessary to ensure that their overall resilient stretching characteristics or elasticity under tensile load falls within closely defined limits. This can be a general requirement, but control of this overall elasticity combined with a high breaking strength can be especially important when the strap is likely to be subjected to high and variable tensile loading.
Additionally there are various practical problems which have generally given certain disadvantages in performance when adopting alternative substitute materials.
For example, various types of straps which have been produced include cotton or wool webbing girths, all elastic girths composed of elastomeric material, lamp-wick girths, and girths composed of nylon cords. Each of these different types, however, have usually been found to have some practical characteristics which make them less satisfactory than is to be desired, arising from one or more of the following reasons:
(a) a tendency to rot giving a limited life; PA0 (b) a tendency for an excessive sweat absorption and insufficient "breathing" of the material leading possibly to hardening or other deterioration in physical characteristics of the material; PA0 (c) a low resistance to washing which has a deleterious effect on the article or material thereof; PA0 (d) insufficient or excessive resilience or elasticity; PA0 (e) a tendency to chafe or to exert excessive pressure unevenly, in undesirable localized areas, against the body of the horse.
For a considerable period of time various designs of girth straps have been developed from various materials in an effort to prolong the effective useful life of the strap whilst maintaining required overall resilient stretching characteristics or elasticity under tensile load.
One important and popular form of girth strap has a main body part with a pair of end straps at one end thereof permanently attached thereto, for example by stitching. In this particular design, most especially with leather girths, such end straps have been composed of elasticated material. With elasticated end straps, however, the main body of the strap, especially if it were to be composed of synthetic material, is likely to have greater overall durability than these end straps and is less likely to rot or otherwise deteriorate in physical properties. Therefore, there is a tendency for the elasticated end straps to deteriorate to an unacceptable level long before the useful life of the remainder of the girth strap has expired. In order to achieve a practical design, hithertofore such end straps have necessarily been permanently secured to the remainder of this girth strap, but this has created practical difficulties for possible repair and replacement of these end straps when they have deteriorated. This is particularly true if a girth of synthetic material is contemplated, and such repair and replacement is generally uneconomic.
It is an object of the present invention to at least reduce the aforementioned problem caused by differing durability and levels of deterioration of various parts of a girth strap and/or the aforementioned problem of effecting repair or replacement of various girth strap parts, in at least some designs of girth strap.